


The Interrupted Nap

by dementxa



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Gen, Humor, college student Ai, punk Sousuke, very vague soutori
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-09
Updated: 2015-03-09
Packaged: 2018-03-17 03:42:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3514043
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dementxa/pseuds/dementxa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ai finally gets to meet his neighbor after a very unusual experience.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Interrupted Nap

**Author's Note:**

> So this is something that I wrote in an hour, it probably sucks but I've kinda been drawn to the Sousuke/Ai ship so ... this was created. :D I hope you like it, this is about the second time (?) I'm writing a ship with no OCs in it XD It feels weird...

Ai still wasn’t used to Tokyo. He had lived in a small town all of his life and so moving to another city – especially to a city with a population of over 13 million people – had been a huge step for the 18-year-old. His inability to adapt had been mainly due to the fact that Ai was still the same short, meek boy he had been in high school. Most people didn’t even notice him when they bumped into him on the street.

It had been a few months since he started college and Ai couldn’t help but think that he would be taking his new life better if he had someone by his side, but so far he hadn’t managed to make any friends. Of course, he had classmates, and there were also his co-workers at the convenience store, but he wasn’t particularly close with any one of them. On top of all, he lived alone, so he had no roommate to rely on either.

Still, Ai wouldn’t say that he was unhappy. He was going to college, studying to be a teacher – something which he had wanted to do since he was little – and despite his mother’s concerns, he seemed to be handling being on his own quite well.

He had to admit, though, that his classes were harder than he expected. Ai had always been a diligent student, but even he sometimes felt like all the homework they were given was too much. Each evening he would come back to his one-room apartment, feeling completely drained, sometimes even to the point where he could not even muster up the strength to change clothes, let alone eat. On these occasions he would just collapse on his bed and then he would wake up in the morning, wondering why he still had his sneakers on.

One Saturday afternoon Ai was going home after having finished his shift at the convenience store. He was glad that he didn’t have to work the night shift today – Saturday evening were tough for convenience stores and he had already gone through that hell several times before. The weather was unusually warm for the season, so he had his jacket in his arm as he walked to his apartment building. He was headed for his door when he heard booming laughter coming from the apartment next to his.

He hadn’t had a chance to meet his neighbor yet, but so far Ai couldn’t complain about them. They were quiet most of the time, something which he was grateful for, especially when his studying kept him up all night. True, occasionally he’d hear loud noises coming from the other apartment, but that seemed to happen only when his neighbor had guests over, and that happened so rarely that Ai could ignore it.

He stepped into his dusk apartment. All the windows pointed north, so not a lot of sunlight could enter; Ai guessed this was why the rent was so low. He turned the light on and walked to the tattered couch. After sitting down, he took his books out and let his bag fall on the floor. Then, remembering something his grandmother had said, he picked the empty bag up and tucked it behind him on the couch.

One of his professors had given Ai’s class a book to read as an assignment and even though he was already halfway through the book, he feared that he wouldn’t be able to finish it on time. The reason was that the author had a habit of using too many English phrases and Ai had to pause his reading to look up each phrase in the dictionary.

He took a break only when his eyes started to sting. His neck was already aching and Ai thought absent-mindedly that he should really buy a table so that he could write and read like a normal person. He set the book aside and stretched, wincing as he felt his joints crack. He was only 18, he shouldn’t be feeling like an old man yet!

He got up from the couch and trudged to the small kitchen. Opening the fridge, he took the noodles that were left from yesterday’s supper. They were cold and tasteless, but he didn’t really care as long as he had something to fill his stomach. He ate quickly, standing by the kitchen sink.

Done with his modest dinner, he went back to the living-room-slash-bedroom and headed to the bed. Not even willing to change into something more comfortable, Ai threw himself face-down, landing on his pillow. He nuzzled into it, grunting tiredly. What he wouldn’t give just to be able to sleep for a few days!

Suddenly he felt something move beside him. It was probably a stray cat – they often snuck in through the small window in the bathroom. Ai wondered why they coming to _his_ apartment; he wasn’t very good with animals.

Looking up, his eyes landed on the scaly face of a lizard. No, a _giant_ lizard. The reptile stared back at him with unblinking eyes.

Ai had been living on his own for a few months now and knew perfectly well how to handle this situation.

He screamed. And then he screamed again. Then he finally remembered that he could move and quickly scrambled out of bed. He fell on the floor, got up and swiftly backed away, bumping into the bookstand. When he was certain that he was far away from the lizard, he turned and ran to his front door. Fleeing from his apartment, he tripped on the threshold and fell straight into someone’s arms.

Throughout this whole ordeal his screaming hadn’t ceased.

“Whoa, kid, you alright?”

Ai stammered something and pointed at his apartment.

“Lizard … there!” Was all he could manage.

The stranger cursed out loud and dropped him unceremoniously on the ground, disappearing into Ai’s apartment. The gray-haired boy was confused for a few seconds. He stood up and was just about to follow the stranger and ask him why he thought he could just barge into his home like that, when the guy reappeared. Ai flinched when he saw that he was holding the lizard. It seemed way smaller now that it was being held by the rather muscular – and heavily tattooed, Ai didn’t fail to notice – young man.

“You’ve scared the shit out of him with all your screaming.” The stranger said. “And it’s an iguana, actually.” He looked at Ai again and his teal eyes softened once he saw just how shaken the smaller boy was. “Sorry. I had a friend over and didn’t even realize when he had snuck out. I hope he didn’t scare you too much.”

“Not at all!” Ai’s voice sounded hysterical. “It was just mere inches away from my face!”

The other snorted. He stepped closer to Ai and ruffled his hair.

“You look like you need a drink. Nothing can calm you down like a nice cold beer.” He flashed Ai a smirk. “My treat, of course.”


End file.
